In a room on Victoria Place, a group of not-so-typical guys hung out in a typical college apartment. Faded tapestries covered the walls and ceilings. An ashtray and a couple of beer bottles decorated the coffee table. Around it, sprawled over the couch and chairs, sat the members of Party in Your Pants, a new band at Syracuse University.

Above them, a poster of Bob Marley smoking a joint hung beside a technicolor Jimi Hendrix. A small, black-and-white drawing of Trey Anastasio stared wildly at the group. Their conversation jumped back and forth between jokes and planning a show at Acme Bar and Pizza in Rochester.

‘We’re gonna be tight like sardines in there,’ said Steve Scuteri, the guitarist for Party in Your Pants. ‘But it’s gonna be great.’

‘Yeah, I might play with just a half kit,’ drummer Dan Omelio said.

‘And I’ll only play with one finger,’ said Jack Taylor, the trumpet player.

‘And I won’t wear pants,’ guitarist Josh Lenhard said.

Talking about the show has riled the boys, and the energy level in the room rises as they speculate over the possible turnout.

‘We get a good crowd in Rochester,’ says Scuteri. ‘Everyone loves that place. Plus they have waffle fries.’

Six months ago, this conversation wouldn’t be happening. Six months ago, the band Party in Your Pants didn’t even exist. But tonight, the band is prepping for another show at Planet 505 on Westcott Street.

Last September, the seven band members were all involved with different musical projects. Scuteri, Lenhard, Taylor, percussionist Dave Monacelli and electric tuba player Matt Ushkow were jamming occasionally in Scuteri’s attic, when they heard about a battle of the bands contest at Milestones in Rochester.

‘We knew we wanted to play out, but we weren’t sure if we were ready,’ said Ushkow. ‘When we heard about the battle of the bands, that was the motivation to get our shit together.’

At that point, the band was without a drummer or bassist. Then they invited Omelio and Niel Coble to their jam sessions.

‘Niel and Dan showed up, and it just clicked,’ Ushkow said.

So after only two practices, Party in Your Pants, or ‘The Pants’ as they sometimes call themselves, played a seven-song set at the battle of bands. Despite the fact that Scuteri believes they didn’t play to their full potential that night, The Pants won the first round. A few weeks later, they won the second.

‘We were pretty surprised,’ Ushkow said, ‘because we were just messing around.’

After the night in Rochester, Party in Your Pants hooked up with friend and junior music industry major Colleen Hendricks to start getting more dates. At the time, Hendricks was working with local promoter Herbie One, whose connections helped her book shows for The Pants. By the end of the fall semester, they had opened for Roast, another student band, at Darwins and Planet 505.

Their show at Darwins was a success, not only because they were happy with their playing, but because of what they got out of it.

Nat Tobin, owner of the Westcott Theater, saw the band play that night. He liked what he saw and offered up his theater as a practice space. The band was ecstatic to move practices out of Scuteri’s attic and into the theater.

‘The acoustics are incredible,’ Lenhard said. ‘We actually sound better in there than we do live.’

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday night, The Pants can be found wailing away at practice.

‘Now we don’t even need a party to go to on Fridays,’ Scuteri said. ‘We couldn’t be happier to be playing as loud as we want for as long as we want.’

The band takes full advantage of the practice space, using it to prepare for the numerous shows and projects they are currently working on. They played again in Rochester last week, and their next show is tonight at Planet 505. They’ll also be recording in the Newhouse and Belfer Studios for both an EP and a Syracuse University Recordings compilation CD.

Back in the room on Victoria Place, the band members are still busy ribbing one another and talking about what makes their sound original. They agree that their cooperative song writing helps create the sound their manager calls ‘funk-rock reggae, with a teaspoon of hip-hop.’

‘Every one of us has similar interests, but a huge wide spectrum of influences,’ Taylor said. ‘So when a song is written it comes together to give it a distinct sound. And we’re always trying to musically surprise the audience.’

Yet even when trying to describe their sound, The Pants’ sense of humor shines through.

‘Yeah, you know what they say about musicians,’ Taylor said. ‘You don’t have to be crazy to be one. But it helps.’

Published on February 25, 2004 at 12:00 pm